God is Good all the Time…even if I’m not.

There are times when God speaks loudly to us. He is making things abundantly obvious so even in our distracted haste we can’t miss the signs. He is clearing certain paths while blocking others, and He is patiently waiting for us to respond.

Yesterday was such a day for me. My heart was heavy, concerned for someone I love and that’s always especially difficult. I spent the entire day until church just reflecting…and praying…sorting out what to do or say about a situation. Nothing had become any clearer to me and then Pastor Craig really knocked it out of the park with a great message on hell. I know that doesn’t sound like a Top 10 way of spending an hour but that one hour is going to save souls. I, for one, was riveted.

During the entire service, I was really considering how much I really don’t want to go to hell. Period. Because my God is just and fair, I know that I am heaven bound. Grace and mercy have been gifted to me when I accepted Him… but there is more. Too many of us stop before we have reached a place where we are truly walking with Christ.

Pastor Craig talked about those who say a prayer, accepting Christ, but nothing in their life changes. Know anyone like that? They still live the same, do the same, act the same…there’s no urgency to live for Christ and Christ alone. One foot in (just in case there is a God) and one foot out (just in case there is not).

There are areas where I am that person. Things I have been unable (or unwilling?) to change. I’m not sure I would have felt the gentle stirring in my heart while at the service had I not been quiet and still yesterday. I was open to hearing from God and He delivered. Ah, the familiar sting of conviction. But He wasn’t done speaking to me….

He has something in store for me that is beyond anything I can comprehend at this very moment. Those areas that haven’t changed? God has been patient but He is now more firm. Dump the stuff that needs to be dumped and make permanent changes. Don’t settle for less.

I need to reflect Christ’s love and if you are a proclaimed Christian, so do you. We need to be striving to be more and more Christ-like every day. I don’t want to be (and, thankfully, am not) the “Christian” who never opens the Bible. I don’t want to be the person whose life hasn’t changed.

And the situation I was concerned with? Complete clarity now. I am involved in it because I allow it. Stop allowing it….so now I’m praying for strength to not settle for less than what God has intended for my life. He has made it clear what needs to change. Now I have to do the rest.

God is good all the time.
All the time, God is good.